Smithsonian to turn over Native American remains

By Les Blumenthal McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The skeletal remains of six members of the Nisqually tribe are stored in wooden boxes in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. No one knows their names. No one knows the stories of their lives.

But they're going home soon.

"It is time to put them to final rest," said Carmen Kalama, the vice chairman of the 650-member tribe.

Some of the remains were donated to the Smithsonian 152 years ago after a naturalist working with the Pacific Railroad surveys found them near Fort Steilacoom, the first U.S. fort north of the Columbia River. Another set of remains was originally misidentified as those of Chief Leschi, a Nisqually chief who was hanged outside Fort Steilacoom in 1858, accused of murdering a soldier during a period of tension between the tribe and settlers.

The documents that have accompanied the remains through the years provide only sketchy information. Documents that may have shed more light were lost in a fire in 1865.

Since the passage of a federal law in 1989, the Smithsonian has "repatriated" or offered to return nearly one-third of the 18,000 sets of skeletal remains of Native Americans it has in its care. The process isn't simple, sometimes requiring months of research to ensure that the remains are returned to the appropriate tribe.

"There is a lot of detective work involved," said William Billeck, who manages the museum's repatriation office.

Most of the forensic work is old school. The age of the remains can be determined by skeletal changes such as bones fusing together or the growth of teeth. Sex can be determined by inspecting the pelvis or assessing the "robustness" of the skeleton.

Newer techniques such as DNA and radio-carbon dating aren't used.

"We don't do any destructive testing," Billeck said.

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